Acceptance of old-earth ideas, including the Big Bang, progressive
creation, theistic evolution, the framework hypothesis, etc.,
necessarily implies downgrading the Flood of Noah's day from worldwide
in scope to merely one of local extent. For example, Dr. Hugh
Ross (an aggressive advocate of billions of years for the earth's
age) vigorously denies the global flood. He calls it "universal,"
covering all that Noah could see, but not the entire earth. This
insistence does not come from sound Biblical exegesis, but from
the incompatibility of a global flood with old-earth thinking,
which he accepts. The evidence for great ages is thought to be
found in the rock and fossil records of the earth's crust. These
are interpreted by the principle of uniformitarianism, that "the
present is the key to the past." Since geologic processes
happen slowly today, they argue, the extensive rock and fossil
records must have taken great lengths of time to form.

However, a flood of the proportions described in Genesis would
have resulted in vast amounts of erosion and redepositing of sediments,
fossilization of plants and animals, volcanism, and redistribution
of radioisotopes. If one denies the global flood as a historic
event, he might use the Grand Canyon/Colorado River system to
"prove" great ages, when, in reality, the Canyon demonstrates
flooding processes with rates, scales, and intensities eclipsing
anything observed today. Thus the misunderstood evidence of old
ages, is actually strong evidence for the Flood. In reality, the
global flood and recent creation doctrines are synonymous concepts,
forcing Dr. Ross and others to twist Scripture, making it say
something it clearly does not. To document that the Bible specifically
teaches the global flood should be sufficient to convince a true
believer in the authority of the Bible.

Biblical Arguments for a Global Flood

Keep in mind that local flood/old earth advocates postulate
the earth before the flood as essentially identical to today's
earth.

1. The depth and duration of the Flood The flood waters covered
the mountains to a depth of at least the draft of Noah's Ark (Genesis
7:19,20). Today's mountains in the Ararat region include Mount
Ararat which rises to 17,000 feet in elevation. The flood lasted
for a year, peaking 150 days after it started (7:11, 8:3,4), then
it began to abate. A year-long mountain-covering flood is not
a local flood.

2. The Physical Causes for the Flood. The Bible explains
that the breaking open of "all the fountains of the great
deep" and the "windows of heaven" (7:11) were the
primary causes. The "deep" is the ocean; thus the "great
deep" could hardly be the cause of a limited local flood.
The "windows" seem to refer to the "waters above
the (atmospheric) firmament" (1:7). These were global causes,
producing a global effect.

3. The Need for an Ark Noah was given many years of
warning, long enough to walk anywhere on earth. The animals also
would have lived globally and so could have migrated anywhere.
There was no need for an Ark if the flood was local. The Ark's
size, big enough to carry two (or seven for some) of each land-dwelling,
air-breathing animal, testifies for a global flood. Building such
a huge ship for a local flood for which there was ample warning
would be ludicrous.

4. Destruction of All Mankind The flood's primary purpose
was to destroy sinful mankind. While the earth's preflood population
is not given, reasonable assumptions based on Biblical data for
average family size, life spans, and age of parent at time of
first-born yield a population far in excess of the maximum Mesopotamian
population. The earth was "filled with violence" (6:11-13),
and while this may have included animal violence, it certainly
included human violence. An earth filled with violence would necessitate
an earth filled with people. Only a global flood to accomplish
its primary purpose. Not only were violent inhabitants under condemnation,
the earth itself was to be destroyed (6:13). The word for "earth"
was the same word as used in the creation account (1:1). Surely
it means the planet, not just a local area.

5. Promise of No More Floods. At the end of the flood,
God promised that there would never again be such a flood (9:15).
But there have been many floods, even regional floods, especially
in Mesopotamia, since Noah's day. If this was merely a local flood,
then God broke His promise, and the rainbow covenant means nothing.

6. The Testimony of Jesus Christ Christ compared the
days immediately prior to His second coming to the days prior
to the flood. He reminded us that "the flood came and destroyed
them all" (Luke 17:27). The coming judgment will be similarly
extensive. If the flood in Noah's day was local, people living
outside the area survived, even though they, too, were sinners.
This gives great hope to end-time sinners. Will they be able to
escape the coming fiery judgment on sin?

7. The Testimony of Peter Peter also wrote of the coming
judgment of the entire heavens and earth (II Peter 3:10-12). He
based his argument on the historical facts that the creation was
of the entire earth (v.5) and that the flood overflowed the entire
earth (v.6), causing it to perish. If the flood was only local,
does this imply that only a portion of the earth will "melt
with fervent heat" (v.10)? Furthermore, the entire creation
will be fully renewed, replaced by "a new heavens and a new
earth" (v.13). The local flood idea produces theological
nonsense.

8. Many Expressions of the Flood's Global Nature Hugh
Ross rightly claims that the word "all" can sometimes
be used in a limited sense (e.g., Genesis 41:57); thus the terms
used in the flood account might be similarly limited. But proper
Biblical exegesis involves discerning the meaning of words in
their immediate context. A passage cannot be interpreted by vaguely
possible meanings. An honest look at the flood account uncovers
an abundance of terms and phrases, each of which is best understood
in a global sense. Taken together as forming the context for each
other, the case is overwhelming. A listing with brief descriptions
follow:

Genesis 6: "Multiply on the face of the earth" (v.1).
"Wickedness of man was great in the earth" (v.5). "Made
man on the earth" (v.6). "Destroy man whom I have created
from the face of the earth"both man, and beast, and the creeping
thing, and the fowls of the air" (v.7; not just herds of
domesticated animals as claimed). "The earth also was corrupt
before God" (v.11; how much can God observe?). "The
earth was filled with violence" (v.11); "God looked
upon the earth" (v.12). "All flesh . . . upon the earth
[not just humans]" (v.12). "The end of all flesh"
(v.13). "The earth is filled with violence" (v.13).
"Destroy them with the earth" (v.13). "A flood
of waters upon the earth" (v.17). "To destroy all flesh"
(v.17). "Wherein is the breath of life" (v.17; not just
domesticated animals). "From under heaven" (v.17; not
just the atmosphere above Mesopotamia). "Everything that
is in the earth shall die" (v.17; animals at a distance would
have been unaffected by a local flood). "Every living thing
of all flesh" (v.19; couldn't be just Noah's herds). "To
keep them alive" (v.19). "Fowls . . . to keep them alive"
(v.20; birds could certainly survive a local flood).

Genesis 7: "To keep seed alive" (v.3). "Upon
the face of all the earth" (v.3). "Every living substance
that I have made" (v.4). "Destroy from off the face
of the earth" (v.4). "The flood of waters was upon the
earth" (v.6). "Because of the waters of the flood"
(v.7). "The waters of the flood were upon the earth"
(v.10). "All the fountains" (v.11; all, not limited
to local geysers or volcanoes). "Of the great deep" (v.11;
the deep ocean). "Windows of heaven" (v.11; a worldwide
source implies a worldwide effect). "Rain was upon the earth"
(v.12). "Forty days and forty nights" (v.12; no local
flood would do this). "Every beast, . . . all the cattle
. . ." (v.14). "Every creeping thing that creepeth upon
the earth" (v.14; did Noah need to take rats and moles and
snakes for them to survive a local flood?). "Every fowl .
. . every bird of every sort" (v.14). "Wherein is the
breath of life" (v.15; applies to animals worldwide). "The
waters increased" (v.17). "Bare up the Ark" (v.17).
"Lift up above the earth" (v.17). "Waters prevailed"
(v.18; similar to a military conquest). "Increased greatly"
(v.18). "Upon the earth" (v.18; not just upon the valley).
"The face of the waters" (v.18; compare with the world
ocean in Genesis 1:2). "The waters prevailed exceedingly"
(v.19). "Upon the earth" (v.19). "All the high
hills" (v.19) "That were under the whole heaven"
(v.19; all that were within God's sight). "Were covered"
(v.19). "Fifteen cubits upward" (v.20; the draft of
the thirty cubit Ark). "Did the waters prevail" (v.20).
"The mountains were covered" (v.20; same word in Hebrew
as high hills [v.19]). "All flesh died" (v.21). "That
moved upon the earth" (v.21). "Fowl . . . cattle . .
. beast . . . creeping things" (v.21). "That creepeth
upon the earth" (v.21; most animals are small creeping things).
"Upon the earth" (v.21). "And every man" (v.21).
"In whose nostrils was the breath of life" (v.22; all
air-breathing animals). "All that was in the dry land"
(v.22). "Every living substance was destroyed" (v.23).
"Upon the face of the ground" (v.23). "Man, and
cattle, and the creeping things and the fowl of the heaven"
(v.23). "They were destroyed from the earth" (v.23).
"Noah only remained alive" (v.23). "They that were
with him in the Ark" (v.23). "The waters prevailed"
(v.25).

Genesis 8: "Every living thing" (v.1). "All
the cattle" (v.1). "A wind to pass over the earth"
(v.1). "The waters assuaged" (v.1). "The fountains
of the deep" (v.2). "The windows of heaven" (v.2).
"Were stopped" (v.2). "The rain from heaven was
restrained" (v.2; a special rain, not a local storm, for
they continue). "The waters returned" (v.3). "From
off the earth" (v.3). "The waters were abated"
(v.3). "The mountains of Ararat" (v.4; the entire Ararat
region is about one mile in elevation, the headwaters of Mesopotamian
rivers. Did the Ark float uphill in this "local" flood?).
"The waters decreased continually" (v.5). "The
tops of the mountains were seen" (v.5; three months later).
"The waters were dried up" (v.7). "From off the
earth" (v.7; after 40 more days). "To see if the waters
were abated" (v.8). "From off the face of the ground"
(v.8). "The dove found no rest" (v.9). "The waters
were on the face of the whole earth" (v.9). "The waters
were abated" (v.11). "From off the earth" (v.11).
"The waters were dried up" (v.13). "From off the
earth" (v.13). "The face of the earth" (v.13).
"Was the earth dried" (v.14). "Every beast, every
creeping thing, and every fowl" (v.19; all of them, not some
of them, left the Ark). "Curse the ground" (v.21). "Every
living thing" (v.21; promise of no more such floods. Couldn't
be a local flood). "While the earth remaineth" (v.22).

Genesis 9: "Be fruitful, and multiply and replenish the
earth" (v.1). "Every beast of the earth" (v.2;
not just local farm animals). "Every fowl of the air"
(v.2). "That moveth upon the earth" (v.2). "All
the fishes of the sea" (v.2). "Every moving thing that
liveth" (v.3). "Bring forth abundantly in the earth"
(v.7). "Establish my covenant" (v.9). "With every
living creature" (v.10). "That is with you" (v.10;
there were no land-dwelling creatures not included in this covenant).
"Fowl, cattle, every beast of the earth" (v.10). "To
every beast of the earth" (v.10). "All flesh be cut
off" (v.11). "By the waters of a flood" (v.11).
"A flood to destroy the earth" (v.11). "Every living
creature" (v.12). "Perpetual generations" (v.12).
"Between me and the earth" (v.13). "Every living
creature" (v.15). "Of all flesh" (v.15). "Waters
shall no more become a flood" (v.15). "To destroy all
flesh" (v.15). "Every living creature" (v.16).
"Of all flesh" (v.16). "That is upon the earth"
(v.16). "All flesh" (v.17). "That is upon the earth"
(v.17). "The whole earth overspread" (v.19; Noah's descendants
are today worldwide. The same term was used to describe the Flood's
extent).

It would seem that the Author of Genesis could hardly have
been more explicit. Conversely, if the omniscient Author had intended
to describe a local flood, He obscured the facts. If words can
communicate truth, if God can express Himself clearly, then the
Flood was global.

It would seem that only a rank downgrading of Scripture, and/or
an unhealthy desire for the approval of unsaved men could lead
one to question this doctrine. I would call on my Christian brothers,
who choose to hold on to the idea of a local flood and its corollary
concept, the old earth, either to return to a God-honoring trust
in Scripture, or else to cease using the term "Bible-believing"
to describe their position.

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